A significant environmental problem for many hydroelectric facilities is the water quality of turbine discharges. The primary water quality problem is often low dissolved oxygen (DO) levels which occur seasonally. During the summer months, thermal stratification of the reservoir produces a surface layer of less dense, warm water with relatively high dissolved oxygen and a lower, relatively cold oxygen-depleted layer resulting from the decay of organic material on the reservoir bottom. Hydraulic turbines draw their discharges from the lower level which can create water quality problems downstream of the facility.
Relicensing and rehabilitation of a hydroelectric facility offer an opportunity to address environmental and industrial development concerns over dissolved oxygen levels and other water quality regulations which affect hydropower releases. Rehabilitating an existing hydroelectric facility may include replacement of the runner. Replacing an existing runner with a new runner having integral passages, and providing air through existing structures or new structures of the installation to the integral passages, enhances dissolved oxygen levels in the water without material losses in efficiency or substantial increases in cost of rehabilitation.
Various attempts have been made to enhance the level of dissolved oxygen in water downstream of hydroelectric installations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,051 to Fisher, Jr. discloses an apparatus comprising a manifold which contains a bounded air channel extending the length of the runner blade trailing edge. A plurality of holes are formed along the manifold extending between the channel and the turbine interior, the channel being in fluid communication with a source of oxygen. For the manifold to remain securely fastened over extended periods of operation, the trailing edge of the runner blade must be relatively thick, which may result in efficiency losses. Additionally, many installations have existing structures which make it impractical and thereby costly to provide air directly to the trailing edge of the runner blade.
Runner blade construction consists of either a solid casting or a fabrication. Most Francis runner blades built in the 70's and 80's were solid cast with extra material added in critical areas for final finishing. These castings were, and often still are, hand ground to templates and fixtures to meet the desired shapes. As machine tools have improved and the runner blade designs have become more computerized, critical areas and features of more complex geometries, such as integral passages, can nowadays be machined into the cast blades. However, this more modern machining approach has done little to improve the manufacturing cycle time, due to the long lead time associated with cast components, nor has it materially reduced manufacturing costs. Although fabricated blades offer improved cycle time and cost advantages, it has proven difficult in practice to fabricate blades having complex geometric features such as integral gas channels, particularly in the thinner portions of the blade.
The foregoing therefore indicates that prior art methods of feeding air directly to the trailing edge of the runner blade have not proved fully satisfactory in practice. Additionally, there is a need for a method of forming a runner blade having a gas channel of relatively complex geometry which offers improved cycle time and is less expensive than the prior art methods.